Edmund Bartlett, Jamaica’s tourism minister, announced the country will host a tourism resilience summit September 13. Held at the University of the West Indies, Mona, the meeting will address events that disrupt tourism, such as climate change, epidemics and pandemics, terrorism and cybercrime.
Under the theme of ‘Tourism Resilience through Global Synergies,’ the meeting will analyze the existing and emerging problems that impact the tourism industry. Attendees will look for a way that government, non-government and business entities can address these issues and work together to mitigate them.
According to Bartlett, this meeting will set the stage for the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre’s official launch next January. Located at the University of the West Indies, Mona, the center will work to address and attack the same issues the summit will begin to tackle.
The center is a result of the Global Conference on Jobs and Inclusive Growth: Partnerships for Sustainable Tourism. The conference convened through a partnership between the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the Government of Jamaica, the World Bank Group and the Inter-American Development Bank. On the staff will be Bartlett; Talib Rifai, a former UNWTO Secretary General; Mario Hardy, the CEO of the Pacific Asia Travel Association; and Lee Miles, a professor in crisis management at Bournemouth University in England.
Related Stories
CTO Helps Dominica Prepare for Climate Change, Natural Disasters
Trump Declares Hawaii a Disaster Zone Following Volcanic Activity